1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an input/sensor for a portable electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, the term “electronic device” refers to devices which a user carries to use various contents, for example, a portable terminal, a Personal Media Player (PMP), or an MP3 player. Portable electronic devices have been mainly designed considering the movement of a user in order that they have easy portability and various functions thereof. Such portable electronic devices have various form factors according to their intended use, the trends of the time, and consumers' requirements. Recently, the use of bar-type electronic devices which have various functions, such as smart phones, tablet PCs, and the like, has increased.
In the case of recent bar-type electronic devices, as diary or multimedia functions have been installed, only the portable electronic device may be used to utilize various contents including voice communication, financial services, game/multimedia services, wireless Internet services, and the like. In bar-type electronic devices, often one large display panel on a whole surface of the electronic device is the main input and output for the electronic device.
At least one or more devices are provided to the bar-type electronic device in order to implement an input. For example, in the case of bar-type electronic devices such as recent smart phones, a large-scale touch panel is provided to a whole surface of the electronic device. In the electronic device, an input can be carried out through the large-scale touch panel display unit on the whole surface thereof. Also, button keys such as a side key, a central on/off key, and the like are separately mounted on a side surface or a periphery of the electronic device, so as to turn on/off an electric power supply unit, to execute an input and a deletion/cancelling, to execute a camera, to control a volume, to lock/unlock a display unit and the like.
The input to the display unit described above is implemented tactilely by recognizing a contact to or proximity to the display unit and/or mechanically by using button keys.
The button keys of the electronic device are arranged on a periphery of the display unit, for example, in a vessel region (a peripheral region of the display unit in a whole surface of the electronic device) or a side surface of the electronic device. Since the mechanical-type button keys need a large number of components and a wide mounting space, the number of button keys affects the slimness of the electronic device.
Recent and widely used electronic devices such as smart phones have various functions and many pieces of personal information, such as simple personal information (e.g., address), personal financial information, payment means relating information, and the like. Accordingly, if the electronic device is lost, the personal information may be exposed or there may be other types of security problems. In order to solve the security problems, various methods for locking the electronic device have been proposed. For example, a locking on/off of the electronic device may be implemented by the user inputting a pattern through the touch panel, or a combination of numerals.
Further, a small number of security solutions using a fingerprint have been provided. However, these fingerprint solutions have the difficulty of securing a separate mounting space for the fingerprint sensor, and have the problem of not providing both security and convenience.